Many types of roller skate designs exist, all achieving in one fashion or another provision for enabling "steering" of the front and rear wheels. Usually this is accomplished by some form of pivotal connection on an inclined axis, as in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,424,072, to Allred, the axes being arranged so that the front and rear wheels steer oppositely to follow what may be termed generally an arc, according to the skater's pattern. Some pivotal structures are defective or undesirable because they include biasing means which return the axles or trucks to straight-ahead position as soon as the skater's weight is removed from the skate; thus, when the skater applies his weight again to the skate while still in a curve or arc, he must overcome this bias to continue his pattern. Also, adjustment of the pivot axis changes the distance between the foot plate and the axles of the wheels. In many prior designs, the relative rocking is not properly designed, resulting in, among other things, premature wear of the skate wheels.
According to the present invention, an improved skate construction is provided by front and rear structures, each incorporating pedestal and socket means. Each of the front and rear frame parts of the skate has a depending socket, cylindrical about an upright axis and closed at its upper end and opening downwardly at its lower end to the associated axle. Each axle is rigid with the lower part of a column or pedestal, the upper end of which seats in the closed end of the socket. For each axle, there is a fore-and-aft tongue, pivoted at one end to the pedestal-axle combination on a transverse axis, preferably the axis of the axle. Also preferably, this axis intersects with the pedestal axis. The terminal end of the tongue has a ball socket which receives the lower ball end of an upright member threaded into the associated support. The parts are so dimensioned as to enable limited rocking of the axle and its parts about at least a generally fore-and-aft axis. In the case of the front part of the skate, the tongue extends to the rear at about the level of the axle and has a ball and socket connection with the associated support rearwardly of the pedestal and socket structure. The ball is below the level of the interengaging upper ends of the pedestal and socket so that an upwardly and forwardly inclined pivot axis is provided, in effect. In the case of the rear axle, the tongue extends forwardly and the construction just described is substantially repeated except that the rear axle steering is opposite to that of the front axle.
The construction is of simple and inexpensive design and provides a smoother-running, more easily controlled skate. The design is such as to require very little maintenance, which leads to a longer and trouble-free life. The axles can be individually adjusted as to steering. These and further features of the invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings.